Category Archives: celebration

As a member of Lowe’s Creative Ideas Network I received gift cards from Lowe’s in order to purchase supplies to complete projects. All opinions are my own.

In El Salvador and many other Latin American countries, the nativity scene, or “nacimiento” is not the quiet, traditional scene most Americans are used to. In addition to Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus, barnyard animals, a shepherd and three wisemen, Salvadoran nativity scenes can take up a whole room and look like an entire village complete with soccer players, musicians, and figures of favorite TV characters.

If you wanted a pupusería (restaurant that sells pupusas) for your nativity this year, you’re in luck! Here’s how you can make your own custom pupusería, either for your nacimiento or to gift to someone as a decoration.

First you’re going to want to place some painter’s tape halfway up the “walls” as shown so that you’ll have a clean line when you paint. Many Salvadoran houses are painted in two colors like this, but you can paint it just one color if you wish. You will also want to paint the “roof” a brownish color so that any spots that show through won’t be obvious when you’re done with the roof tiles.

To make the traditional looking “tejas” roof tiles which are popular in parts of El Salvador, you’ll be using the wide popsicle sticks (also called “hobby sticks.) Cut as many as you need with the pliers for the first row which you’ll hot glue to the roof. Mine were about 1 1/2 inches long, but I think it would have worked better if I cut them slightly shorter.

For the corners, you may need to cut your roof tiles with the scissors so they’re beveled (see photo.)

Once you hot glue the first row, you may find it necessary to put a few layers of hot glue and allow it to harden on parts of the roof before you add the next row to give yourself a more even surface to work on.

You may also find that cutting some of the roof tiles in a “tear drop” shape, as shown, will work better in some areas.

I’m not going to lie – the roof took a long time and it was far from perfect. I’m definitely not going to be hired as a roofer anytime soon! However, once you have it all tiled, you’re ready to paint it.

I didn’t have a specific Valspar color on hand that I felt was the right shade so I ended up mixing my own color. You want sort of a dark reddish-orange. After I painted them that color, I used a dry brush in dark brown paint to add a little more detail.

Feel free to get creative with whatever details you want to add. As you can see, I painted a little potted plant on the outside wall near the entrance.

As for the figures of the woman and the dog, I just traced their shapes on craft board and cut them out with a jigsaw. Sand the edges until they’re smooth and then you can paint them as you wish.

If you look closely, you can see a little plate of pupusas inside. For that I used a wooden nickel (available in the “hobby” drawer in the Hardware department), which I painted blue. For the pupusas, I used a knife to slice a rubber cork from a wine bottle into little discs and painted them. Once dry, I hot glued the pupusas to the plate and hot glued the plate to the little triangular ledge on the inside.

When I went to paint the pupusería’s sign on a popsicle stick to hot glue to the outside wall, my younger son walked by the table. He pointed to the figure of the woman which I had already painted and he said, “Is that you?” … I decided then that it would be my pupusería. (And yes, I spelled my name the Salvadoran way!)

Disclosure: Latinaish.com has partnered with Cricket Wireless as a 2014 Blog Ambassador. All opinions are my own.

Happy National Pupusa Day, gente! To celebrate I hope you go to your favorite pupusería with your familia and enjoy one of each kind with plenty of curtido y salsa. (Or make some yourself. I’ve got several recipes here.)

If you live in the DC area there’s plenty of pupusa places to choose from. Over the years I’ve shared the names of a few of my favorites. Today I want to give a shout out to a pupusería we discovered this past year called Flor Blanca in Winchester, Virginia. It’s a small place, nothing fancy – reminds me of the comedors back in El Salvador – but they have excellent pupusas (and plenty of other super authentic Salvadoran food.) The best day to check them out is Tuesday or Thursday when they have 99 cent pupusas!

Last time we went to Flor Blanca I snapped a couple photos with my Cricket Wireless Samsung Galaxy. Ever since I’ve gotten this phone I have completely abandoned my camera – I love the photos it takes.

Need a pupusa playlist for your car ride to the pupusería? Here are some good pupusa-themed songs I found in Cricket Wireless’s Muve Music store.

Yes. I now have a Pupusa Playlist.

You can learn more about Cricket Wireless by following the #ConMiCricket hashtag and @MiCricket on Twitter.

Disclosure: Latinaish.com has partnered with Cricket Wireless as a 2014 Blog Ambassador. All opinions are my own.

Just wanted to let you all know, Cricket Wireless is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by inviting you to their stores to make a free phone call to amigos or familia in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Peru, Spain and Venezuela from October 1st to October 3rd. Check with your local Cricket location to see if they’re participating!

For more from Cricket Wireless ambassadors, follow the #VidaConCricket hashtag and @MiCricket on Twitter.

Today, in honor of Fiestas Agostinas in El Salvador, let’s learn the names of rides at fairs! (The names below are not the only names for the rides. In English and Spanish they have many names that can change depending on the country. Ready?

¿Conoces más ruedas? ¡Compartir en los comentarios!

Disclosure: This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with Crest® and Latina Bloggers Connect. All opinions are my own.

The tagline of Crest®’s current campaign is “Más lejos llega tu equipo, más cerca estás” and it’s totally true; with each game, our familia gets closer – not just physically during goal celebrations which turn into hugging-jumping-up-and-down-mini-fiestas, but we’ve had a great time bonding and creating traditions.

I always say I’m not superstitious, and I often tease Carlos because he’s very superstitious, but I have a few “traditions” which make me feel more confident about my team winning a game.

When Mexico was still in, my tradition was to put a can of sweet peas next to the television. My kids were confused the first time until I explained that in Spanish, sweet peas are called “chícharos” – and Chicharito’s nickname is “little pea.” Now it all made sense! (Well, sort of. It still might be a little weird.)

When the US team plays, first of all, everyone in the family is required to wear their American flag T-shirt, (we still need to invest in the official jersey now that, thankfully, the team no longer looks like Where’s Waldo.)

Second, we eat hot dogs during every game the United States plays. I like to make my hot dogs sort of “Sonoran style” with a slice of bacon, mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, chopped tomato, onion and jalapeño on a bun which I toast for a few seconds on the comal. They’re delicious, but after eating them, your breath will be kicking.

After I finish my hot dogs I usually run off for a minute to brush my teeth, (and hope I don’t miss any of the action!) Since I signed up for this campaign, I bought Crest® Complete + Scope because I wanted to make sure it’s a good product, and that’s the toothpaste I’ve been using. It’s kind of awesome that it’s an “all in one” toothpaste. Not only does it whiten teeth, fight cavities, and prevent tartar, but it has mouthwash built right into it so you don’t knock out any of your family members yelling “¡GOOOOOOOOOOL!”

So, the other day I stopped at a store we have here on the east coast called “Five Below.” Five Below is like the most awesome dollar store ever and is targeted to teenagers. Everything at “Five Below” is five dollars or less, (¡obvio!) … Anyway, I stopped in the other day and was so psyched to see they had a big soccer section set up near the sports equipment in honor of the upcoming tournaments. Fútbolmania seems to finally be hitting the United States!

Not only did they have Panini album stickers, (of which I bought a ridiculous amount even though I keep saying I’m going to stop buying them), they had soccer balls, T-shirts, stickers, magnets, lanyards, sunglasses, cellphone cases, scarves and all kinds of things for the U.S. team and others.

So, here’s the deal, I bought a few things for a giveaway because I want to encourage everyone to cheer on the U.S. team. Many of us have favorite teams besides the U.S. team, whether we have roots or some sort of connection to another country outside the U.S., or a favorite player who isn’t from the United States, or maybe we just like the playing style of a particular team — Go ahead and cheer that favorite team on too, but don’t forget to show support for the U.S. team. Like I said, it seems like fútbolmania could catch on here, and as soccer fans, that’s super exciting. Let’s do our part to show the U.S. team support and get others excited about the sport. Are you in?

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Prize description: One lucky winner will receive the items pictured in the photo at the very top of this post: 1 USA soccer ball (which may arrive deflated for shipping purposes), 1 USA soccer magnet, 1 USA soccer decal, and 1 USA soccer lanyard.

Approximate value: $10

- How to Enter -

Mandatory entry: Just leave a comment below telling me which American soccer player you like best. (The soccer player doesn’t have to be on the U.S. roster for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Please feel free to name a player from a U.S. Major League Soccer team or U.S. Women’s Soccer team. (Please read official rules below before entering.)

Optional extra entry opportunities: Once you have completed the mandatory entry, you can do as many of the following for extra entries in any order you wish:

• Subscribe to Latinaish.com in the sidebar on the right where it says “Free Delivery” – either via email through WordPress.com where it says “Sign me up!” or through Bloglovin, and leave a separate comment here saying that you did.

Official Rules: No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years of age or older to enter. You must be able to provide a U.S. address for prize shipment. Your name and address will not be shared with any third party. Please no P.O. Boxes. One entry per household. Make sure that you enter a valid email address in the email address field so you can be contacted if you win. Winner will be selected at random. Winner has 48 hours to respond. If winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be selected at random. Giveaway entries are being accepted between June 3rd, 2014 through June 9th, 2014. Entries received after June 9th, 2014 at 11:59 pm EST, will not be considered. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. If you win, by accepting the prize, you are agreeing that Latinaish.com assumes no liability for damages of any kind. By entering your name below you are agreeing to these Official Rules. Void where prohibited by law.

Buena suerte / Good luck!

Disclosure: I did not receive any product or payment to run this giveaway. This giveaway is not an official FIFA World Cup 2014 giveaway. This giveaway is not an official Five Below giveaway. Both FIFA and Five Below retain rights to their own individual trademarks and I do not claim any official connection with either company. Items for giveaway were purchased by me. As always, all opinions are my own.

With the World Cup coming up, I’ve got my mind on Brazil – but more specifically, I can’t stop thinking about Brazilian food. I did some research (also known as looking at photos of food for several hours) and have come to a conclusion – my life needs more Brazilian food in it. During the World Cup, my cocina will become a cozinha, (you guys are pretty smart so I don’t have to tell you that’s Portuguese for “kitchen”, right?)

Since I have pretty much zero experience in Brazilian cuisine, I decided to start out with the easiest recipe I could find.

Brigadeiros are basically Brazilian bon bons, or maybe more accurately, truffles. From what I read, they are the most popular candy in Brazil and essential at children’s birthday parties.